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Thursday, April 07, 2016

Romanesque Route in Segovia

The city of Segovia has more than twenty Romanesque churches from the 12th and 13th centuries, which makes it the second highest concentration of these jewels in Spain, after Zamora. On the route that we proposing today you can discover five of these historical and architectural jewels. These fives temples offer a series of common features that fit them all into the same unique group: they are within the city walls and have atriums, porticos and feature open and attached arcades on the south side of the church, which could be used for civil purposes and local meetings, as well as the unique characteristic of the slenderness of the bell towers with numerous levels of arches.

This is a circular route about 5 km long during which you will visit the following churches:

Church of San Clemente. Built between the 12th and 13th centuries, it is a single nave with the apse facing south and a wide tower.

Church of San Millán. The most impressive and monumental in Segovia. Located in the Medieval center, construction began in the year 1111 under the rule of doña Urraca and Alfonso I "El Batallador". Given the Aragonese roots of the king, the temple shows clear influences from Jaca. It has three naves with three apses. The tower dates from the previous building and is on the north side of the transept. Later on arched galleries were added along the northern and southern sides.

Church of San Esteban. Built between the 12th and 13th centuries, the Church of San Esteban is a three nave church that maintains Romanesque elements such as the arched gallery and the majestic tower.

Church of the Holy Trinity. This is a 12th century church, with an atrium open to the south, a common characteristic of the Segovian Romanesque.

Church of San Juan de los Caballeros. The works of the headboards of the church date back to the 10th century and they reused the remains of the Visigoth basilica. During the 11th century the building was destroyed and the current central apse was built. Two centuries later the side apses, tower and southern atrium were added.